142 ■ COLEOPTERA OR BEETLES. 



find on turnips, containing a white larva in the winter ; the 

 Clover Weevil {Apimi apricans), a small bluish weevil with red 

 legs and a very long snout ; the Pine Weevil {Hylesinus abietis), 

 which devours the shoots of the pines and other conifers ; and 

 the Corn and Eice Weevils (Oalandra granaria and C. oryzce), 

 which deposit their eggs in stored wheat, barley, oats, and rice. 



The Pentamera form the largest division of beetles, and 

 include a great number of destructive species. The most 

 important family of them economically is that of the 



Click-beetles (Elaterid«). 



The Elaters are commonly called Click-beetles or Skip-jacks, 

 on account of their peculiar skipping movements, and the curious 

 sharp clicking noise then produced. They are the parents of the 

 dreaded Wireworm, by far the most obnoxious farm and garden 

 pest. The elaters have an elongated body. There is a spine 

 upon the venter of the prothorax, which fits into a correspond- 

 ing pit on the mesothorax. When the beetle falls on its back, 

 it is unable to regain its normal position owing to its very short 

 legs. The spine apparatus is for this purpose. The beetle, to 

 regain its feet, arches the head and prothorax and abdomen, so 

 that the spine is brought out of the mesothoracic pit ; suddenly 

 relaxing its muscles, the body flies back, and the spine coming 

 violently in contact with the mesothorax, jerks the insect up into 

 the air, and at the same time produces the clicking noise, the 

 beetle always falling down on its ventral surface. The hind 

 angles of the prothorax are often produced into spines. There 

 are at least four species of elaters that are very destructive 

 in their wireworm or larval state. The commonest is Agriotes 

 lineatus or the Striped Click-beetle (fig. 62, c), an insect about 

 half an inch long, with pale stripes down the reddish-brown 

 elytra. Athiius hmmorrhoidalis is also sometimes very abundant, 

 and smaller than the former. 



